Throughout the works we have studied in class, identity has been a common theme. Forming an identity is imperative to the writers we have studied. Identity in relation to genetics, family, and overall lineage is something closely connected to Caribbean literature. Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, and Jamaica Kincaid all left their respective Caribbean homelands to settle into new environments. The writings include a deep search for a strong identity. These identities often take root in lineage, or a thematic link to genetics stemming from homeland.
Michelle Cliff’s writings focused mostly on her identity in relation to her past. Her mixed Jamaican and European ancestry, sexual identity, and lineage blend into Claiming an Identity They Taught Me to Despise. Her identity and self-formation takes most of its shape in her background. “Obsolete Geography” is a fragmented piece that utilizes memories and stream of consciousness to connect to a lengthy ending prose. It takes her childhood observations then pieces them together years …show more content…
It was their whispers that pushed you, their murmurs over pots sizzling in your head. A thousand women urging you to speak through the blunt tip of your pencil.”. A connection to genetics is here through the narrator’s appearance, and braiding almost summons the female spirits back into the present, but this passage connects specifically to writing. The narrator cannot let the guiding female voices inside her head remain silent in their suffering. By writing about them, she solidifies the idea that they will never be forgotten. Although it is dangerous to do so, and frowned upon by her female family members, she has to do it. The female ancestors’ lives connect to hers, and help her find an identity as a
Michelle Cliff’s writings focused mostly on her identity in relation to her past. Her mixed Jamaican and European ancestry, sexual identity, and lineage blend into Claiming an Identity They Taught Me to Despise. Her identity and self-formation takes most of its shape in her background. “Obsolete Geography” is a fragmented piece that utilizes memories and stream of consciousness to connect to a lengthy ending prose. It takes her childhood observations then pieces them together years …show more content…
It was their whispers that pushed you, their murmurs over pots sizzling in your head. A thousand women urging you to speak through the blunt tip of your pencil.”. A connection to genetics is here through the narrator’s appearance, and braiding almost summons the female spirits back into the present, but this passage connects specifically to writing. The narrator cannot let the guiding female voices inside her head remain silent in their suffering. By writing about them, she solidifies the idea that they will never be forgotten. Although it is dangerous to do so, and frowned upon by her female family members, she has to do it. The female ancestors’ lives connect to hers, and help her find an identity as a